Mockingjay - The Hunger Games Book 3

In the third and final volume of The Hunger Games, Katniss has once more escaped the warrior's arena with her co-tribute Peeta, for whom she has feelings but cannot quite put them into words, and yet she is now called on to lead the revolution as the Mockingjay.

In Book 1, Katniss and her co-tribute Peeta, are sent to The Hunger Games Arena as representatives of District 12 and they make it to the winner's platform and are thanked for their survival. Katniss and Peeta were to have settled down and lived a quiet life of safety and contentment.

However, as we later found out in Book 2, President Snow and Panem see Katniss and Peeta's victory differently. There are rumors of rebellion in the air and they seem to swirl around the pair of Hunger Games winners so rather than their quiet, safe life together, Katniss and Peeta are pulled into a world of more intrigue as President Snow and company try to determine if Katniss is, indeed, the leader of the revolution or just an innocent dupe. Indeed, the President makes a special trip to District 12 to see Katniss, whose home District also happens to be the poorest area that sends its tribute to Panem and The Hunger Games.
After planning the 75th Anniversary "Games," Katniss and Peeta have to savage their opponents again to attain victory again.

Book 3, opens with Peeta suffering from an apparent case of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) after two rounds of nearly constant battle and fear. All he wants is a little quiet and some understanding, however, Katniss becomes the Mockingjay - the real leader of the revolutionary movement.

It does make sense as Panem is very upset with the Katniss/Peeta team for surviving the trips to the arena and President Snow and his circle are equally as upset. The only welcome Katniss receives is from the revolution and being a natural leader she takes over as the Mockingjay. By worrying about Katniss and her partner, Panem and Snow have driven Katniss, now the ultimate warrior, into the arms of the revolution. It is a classic self-fulfilling prophecy.

In Book 3, we also find best-selling and award-winning author Suzanne Cole changing direction. Not only is she starting to wind things up to their conclusion, but she is broadening the characterization of all of the parties involved giving Katniss a larger-than-life persona and role and leaving her real love, Peeta, to suffer through bouts of PTSD alone. Another love interest appears but when one is finished, one realizes that Peeta is her soul-mate.

Peeta's soul-mate, on the other hand, is now almost a universal soldier, committed to the savagery and war. She has become the ultimate warrior and Panem feels her anger.

Author Collins used her considerable writing skill to make Katniss believable, as well as the situations in which she finds herself. Overall, Book 3 is a fitting lid for The Hunger Games. Collins is able to bring things to a successful conclusion that, as the old ads used to say, will "leave you at the edge of your seat." She does that and more in her crowning achievement in the Hunger Games.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for ecommUS-Books

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Catching Fire - The Hunger Games Book 2

After rising out of the poorest District, 12, to win The Hunger Games, Katness Everdeen and her co-tribute Peeta, should have been able to expect lives of safety and contentment, but that is just not the case for the winner of The games. President Snow, leader of Panem and organizer of The games, makes an unscheduled visit to Katniss and Peeta. He is troubled by vague rumors of insurrection brewing in the background and he is also troubled by the apparent linkage of winners with the revolutionary rumors.

This is the world that Katniss and Peeta find themselves as they make a grand tour of all of the losing Districts, including the wealthy Capital. The intrigues continue as Katniss is drawn into planning the 75th Anniversary Hunger Games.

As the planning and story move on Katniss' life reveals itself as she becomes a more rounded individual. Her characterization is becoming broader and she is proving to be more than just a winning tribute. Behind the mask of the competitor, there beats the growing heart and mind of a developing character. That Katniss is growing is due to the carefully planned and well-executed writing of author Suzanne Collins. Katniss is coming to life as a person - a person that the Capital District may have good reason to fear.

Beneath the apparently calm surface of Panem - a country that corresponds roughly to the Old USA and to which the outer Districts owe tribute in the form of warriors for the yearly games - there's an undercurrent of revolution. Are Katniss and Peeta part of this movement or are they just being used by the revolutionaries who hope to overthrow Panem and bring themselves to power?

It's an intriguing question that President Snow is trying to answer with his visit. It is during this visit that Panem also becomes a fuller and richer place with traditions that one could have only guessed at during the Hunger Games (Book 1). In Book 1, Katniss and Peeta are fighting for their lives, while Book 2 brings more calm but also shows that there may be a fire in the background that President Snow and Panem have to deal with.

As all of this is happening, Katniss discovers herself and finds a relationship with an equal, one which helps to define her as an individual and round her character.
The Hunger Games trilogy's author Suzanne Collins deftly handles these background changes as Katniss matures and Panem wonders. It is well done and shows that Katniss is more than just a warrior. It also shows that - as the saying goes - "uneasy lies the power" as Panem tries to halt the revolution.

With Katniss help and planning the 75th Anniversary Hunger Games will truly be something and are something special. Katniss gains humanity as she battles to stay alive in Book 2. The author handles this deftly and builds a nuanced storyline that Hunger Games fans love.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for ecommUS-Books

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The Hunger Games Book Review

In what was to be a war to the finish, 12 unnamed entities attack and try to destroy the United States, only to find themselves the losers in a world where Panem -- the former Washington, DC -- emerges the victor. It's a world where the victor has keep its territories subdued. To do so, it invents the "Hunger Games," by Susan Collins, where two of its finest are sent off to a fight-to-the-death contest. It's the ultimate "Fantasy Island" meets the Roman gladiatorial games where the fight is to the death with no quarter.

Into this world arrives Katness Everdeen, 16, from the Appalachian territory, who is making the ultimate sacrifice to save her sister and is partnered with Peeta. Let's look back a little before we move forward.
The key to the world in Susan Collins' "Hunger Games," used to be called "man's inhumanity to man." In this case, though, it's more like man's insanity to man. It is the ultimate reality show except that in this one there is no escape for 23 of the 24 participant.

It's a world where, unlike "Spartacus," who finds his humanity and humanity in the courage of his "brothers of the games," the competitors in the "Hunger Games" slowly lose their humanity and their inhibitions and devolve into mere participants in a TV show where no one is "voted off the island -- you're killed."
How Katness and Peeta, who retains her humanity and convinces Katness to do the same, while, also keeping from becoming victims is the hidden story around which the "Hunger Games" revolves.
The "Hunger Games" is a novel that works because it resonates with its audience very well. Notice that it is meant for readers 12 and older. This puts it about the time the Playstation really became the hot property of the Internet gaming world.

Players were ready to annihilate - no one ever liked being annihilated himself so they developed workarounds (spoilers) where players could gain unlimited supplies of ammunition or oxygen. Spoilers were also developed that gave players more weapons and more powerful weapons and that could also bring them back to life if they had the misfortune to caught in an ambush.
In a larger sense, the "Hunger Games" is a direct outgrowth of this thinking. It reflects an understanding of how to "settle" wars and scores by using weapons. In the "Hunger Games," the players become finely tuned hunting and killing machines who can track and find their enemies and who can split them with one arrow shot.

Unfortunately, since this is a novel when you've used up your quota of arrows, knives, blades and anything else with which you can hack and maim, you are usually the next to fall.
Katness becomes that type of killing machine but her partner Peeta helps her hold onto her humanity. That's what is lacking from the other players in this game. The territories and Panem reflect their times. They are short of food and other basic necessities so they need a gladiator-like distraction and the "Hunger Games" gives them that distraction. That they have forgotten why they are fighting them in the first place is place far down the list.

Like Collins' other work, this one has been well received. It will likely have several more aimed at us before the series peters out. We suspect Katness will have something to do with the final stand and the final "Hunger Game" because she is, after all, the ultimate warrior.
And, while we don't pretend to know what is on the publisher's mind or the author's mind, we can only think that somehow the "Hunger Games" will pass into history, just as Rome's gladiatorial contests did two millennia ago.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for ecommUS-Books

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The Hunger Games Trilogy Book Review

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is one of those books that was originally written for a Young Adult audience but crossed over into the waiting hands of adults. There is something so powerful about a well told story that transcends the intended age group and draws in readers of all ages. It has often been said that some of the best books for adults are found between the covers of young adult fiction.

And so it proved with The Hunger Games. Released in 2008, the first book in an eventual trilogy was so beautifully written that it garnered praise from all corners of the literary globe. Critics, fellow authors and readers were taken by the journey of Katniss Evergreen and her role as a sacrificial warrior, manipulated by the state to perform in brutal gladiatorial style games between children that could have only one victor.

Collins managed to infuse this brutal dystopian future with moments of pure beauty that rival any in modern fiction. Written in first person, readers journeyed with Katniss as she is chosen, prepares for battle before the eyes of a viewing nation, sees the larger hands at work and finally realises her place in the world as she begins to fight for her life against other children bent on their own survival in the arena.

Despite a rather inconclusive ending that placed The Hunger Games as only a small part of a larger story arc, the book was embraced. The second book, Catching Fire, continued the story but invariably added little to Katniss' story as the setting again became the arena and survival the goal.

Mockingjay, the final book of the trilogy was released in August 2010 and for many was an unsatisfying conclusion to what could have been a truly memorable series. Collins places Katniss again in the hands of others and much of the story is told as she is manipulated into different situations and reacts accordingly.

The Hunger Games remains a book full of beauty and horror and a story that is worth telling. For the other two books in the series they are great lessons on writing and how to give your character focus amongst the events of plot.

Inger loves stories and loves to write. As a librarian in a previous life she also has an insatiable thirst for general knowledge. You can visit her latest websites which take a look at the best wooden castle toys and puppets for kids [http://www.puppetsforkids.org/].

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The Frailty of Dreams in Of Mice and Men

You're still young, so we're sure you still have plenty of dreams. That's not to say that we, your elders (hey - some of us are barely thirty!) have lost the ability to dream or no longer have any good ones. It's just that, after you've lived a number of years out there in the real world, you're certain to experience a good deal of disappointment. Even if some of our dreams have come true, others have idled or fallen by the wayside.

In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shares the story of a couple of dreamers. George and Lennie start out with the highest hopes - they are on their way to find work and easy money in the land of opportunity (California, not Vegas - you're thinking of the land of opportunists). Although poor and just starting out, they haven't a care in the world and have not yet let the possibility of failure enter their minds. To be fair, Lennie doesn't let much of anything enter his mind.

Lennie is the epitome of hopefulness. For starters, he's a little, er, well... he's not at the top of his AP English Language class, we'll put it that way. Okay, so he's a little slow. But his dreams don't suffer for it. He has grand designs for a boatload full of puppies and rabbits, and for owning a ranch on which he can live and take care of all of them. George's dreams, on the other hand, revolve mostly around Lennie. Although he can sometimes act harshly toward him, all George really wants is to see his best bud happy. He is envious of his friend's childlike, boundless optimism, and it inspires him. George, too, longs for that ranch, but he almost wants it more for Lennie than he does for himself.

However, one thing after another goes wrong (like in that recurring dream you have in which you're taking the PSAT and you suddenly develop a case of bubble-filler's elbow, then pass out from heat exhaustion) and that ranch starts to seem further and further away.

Although they (well, George at least) start to realize that their dreams are steering dangerously off path, they stubbornly hold onto whatever thin sliver of hope they can muster. Even to the bitter end, Lennie is still looking off into the distance, envisioning all of his dreams coming true, even as an angry mob closes in on them.

So as you read this, O blissful dreamer, dream well and dream hard, but don't be afraid to let your dreams morph gradually into something different than what you initially expected as you go through your life. Because you don't want to be blindsided when your best friend fires a Luger into the back of your head.

Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Of Mice and Men, AP English Language, and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

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Deconstructing William Shakespeare's Heroines in Literature

The Bard was perhaps the most radical and experimenting writer of his age when he tried issues of homosexuality in the sonnets, but he was a conservative when it came to the "fairer sex". His heroines can be broadly classified under two categories - abiding and independent. I am using the term "heroine" strictly to denote the leading ladies, and not the supporting cast. As far as the leading female characters are concerned, most are the good girls with a natural abiding nature and hardly any ambition of their own. Those who have this spark fall under the category of 'independent' and are mostly termed as the "witch".

Let us start with the ladies of the negative category, so that we can slowly compare them with the heroines who followed the rules. The first name that comes to our mind is Lady Macbeth. If taken as a modern lady, she is ambitious, persuasive, and determined. Had she been the CEO of a company in these days, she would have given good competition to many male CEOs over the world. But she is a woman, known with the name of her husband. She cannot do anything actively, for she is the second sex. Even if she tried to gain the fate that she believed she and her husband deserved, the society - in the form of fate - abandons her and death becomes her ultimate fate.

The second lady whose portrayal we need to deconstruct is Katherina, from The Taming of the Shrew. She is the shrew, because she is intelligent. She has a mind of her own, and can make her own decisions, so she needs to be tamed. And the taming is such a harsh process that when we read or watch this play in these modern times, we feel that an almost inhuman cruelty was meted out to her. The pleasure in subduing a powerful woman is always there, and it was with the great Shakespeare as well.

The good girls, who got all the rewards, were no doubt the most abiding and naïve ones. When a Juliet loves with her whole innocence, she has to sacrifice her life to be accepted as a pure lady. She could not stand strong in the face of troubles or she would have been banned by fate as well. Similarly, ladies like Ophelia, Desdemona and Hermione had to sacrifice their lives or at least pretend to do so, in order to gain the status of a virtuous lady.

There are heroines like Rosalind, Viola and Portia who try to break free from the norm, but somehow fall short of being the powerful woman that they should have been. The common thing with these is that they all take the guise of a man, as if trying to go beyond their identity as a weak woman. But in the end, they do it for the sake of the common god, just as a good girl is expected to give up everything for the sake of the men in her life. Rosalind took the guise of Ganymede to save herself and her sister, Viola did it to save survive in the strange land of Illyria and Portia did it to save her husband's friend. The most daring deed was done by Portia, for she went ahead and challenged a group of men. But the temporary insult that she received in the hands of her own husband when Bassanio gave her their wedding ring for saving his friend Antonio's life is perhaps her punishment for challenging a men's world of law.

To conclude, I would like to bring up the example of the heroine of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native. She also took the guise of a man, but for her own sake - for her own amusement. And we all remember her tragic fate. She was ambitious, spirited and independent. But her ignominious end came by drowning herself out of shame and frustration. So, it is not just Shakespeare, but women from all times in literature have been shown as the model of virtue so that men could triumph over her and boast of their strength.

Simantini Sinha is an avid reader on various topics, and her interests lie in books, music, food and more. her articles are published in magazines and dailies.

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BOOK REVIEW: THE PEARL by John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck (1902-1968) is one of America's greatest writers and is a Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 1962. I must confess, though, that this is the first time I read a book by him, all thanks to a fellow book lover and book blogger who kept on raving about how wonderful a writer John Steinbeck is. I bought my copy of this book for only Php17.00 from Booksale, but certainly this book is worth a thousand more than its price.

I did a little bit of research about John Steinbeck and learned that this author is known for the social criticisms inherent in most of his works, and was even branded to be subversive. These social criticisms are likewise central in The Pearl, where Steinbeck tells the story of a pearl diver named Kino and how his life is affected after finding the greatest pearl of all time. Reading The Pearl gives out a feeling of reading a parable or a fable, though I must say that the story is more than just a fable. It is a social commentary on the great chasm that divides the rich from the poor and the evils of greed. It portrays a touching story of how riches can change a man and how it can give and destroy peace. It tells about the true value of riches and where they can be found.

Kino, a pearl diver, is in constant search for that great pearl that can bring him, his wife and his little child the wealth that can save them from abject poverty. This great search was even more fired when Kino's baby who was bit by a scorpion was refused medical aid by known healers because they cannot pay the medical fees. When Kino finally found the Pearl, his life changed drastically and it seems that wealth and comfort are now within his reach. However, his life was also caught in line because more and more people have become interested in acquiring for themselves the Pearl. Add to that the very low valuation given by money changers on the pearl, because they wanted to short change and trick the seemingly naive young pearl diver. Kino and his family are then forced by circumstances to escape their place and go to the hinterlands in order to look for the best price for the Pearl.

What I love most about The Pearl are the various symbolisms and interpretations it connotes. It is a story worth discussing. The ending may not have surprised me that much, but I love how such conclusion affected the whole direction of the story. I love how The Pearl has made me think. After all, this is what good literature is all about - to make you think.

4 stars.

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Da Vinci Code Revisited, Part 2: The Espouse of Jesus

For Dan Brown, who caused the millions of those who read his novel Da Vinci Code, to raise eyebrows or chuckle, or pull the book closer for a better view, Jesus' espouse was Mary Magdalene.

For me, Jesus having a espouse was a potential possibility - He couldn't marry and He didn't marry. However, had He been given a chance to live longer beyond his age of 33, He could have married and had children.

For most traditional Christians, the mere thought of a espouse for Jesus is a heresy. How great it is that we don't live in Joan of Arc's bygone era of inquisitions anymore, where they used to burn heretics at stake.

That was in a certain past.

Could Jesus have married?

Well, you can raise some more eyebrows, chuckle, or better still, lean forward and perk up reading.

Today's generation is more open to possibilities.

Let's examine Jesus' Marriage, or, more correctly, the potential for it.

Jesus spoke of it in the Parable of the Marriage Feast: Everyone from the Master's choice of guests was invited, but refused to come; They were too busy. Somebody just bought a cow and somebody's getting married, too. Then, out of the master's frustration, he invited even the poor, the blind and the lame...they came, but those who came improperly dressed for the occasion were thrown out to the darkness outside - where there were gnashing of teeth.

Of course, you are very much familiar with this parable.

You're right about whom Jesus referred to as the Master who was getting married - Himself.

That's the Master getting married - Jesus getting married in his own story.

Yes, of course, a parable...

Here's another marriage instance in the scriptures where we can find the Lamb getting married, and who it is obviously referred to: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (Rev 19:7)

Well meaning Christians know what or who the Lamb refers to. Behold the lamb who takes away the sins of the world - Jesus.

Sounds familiar?

It was spoken from the mouth of John the Baptist, referring to Jesus. For Catholics, it is part of a hymn, "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on your people..."

We don't know to whom the "wife of the Lamb who has made herself ready" refers to - could be anyone's guess, hypothetically.

If one is after the moral lesson, which is what the parables are supposed to teach us so as to be practically meaningful, you're right again - we'd better be prepared for the coming of the Lord for He comes when it's least expected... a good point to understand. But if we just focus on this point, we neglect another important one - the Lamb of God is getting married upon His Return.

Are there other instances in the Gospel that Jesus referred to Himself as the Bridegroom?

Check these out.... Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. (Matt. 9:15, Mark 2:19, Luke 5:34)

In The Parable of the Ten Virgins, (Matt 51-10) Jesus is the most awaited Bridegroom.

There are more than enough scriptural references for us to relax our raised eyebrows, and understand that the term "Bridegroom" as used in the Bible - is in reference to Jesus.

I don't agree with the idea in the novel that Jesus had an offspring - more so of one that survives today; but that there was that potential had the Lamb had the chance to marry.

Er Nuylan
http://www.thefirstchristmas.info

Er Nuylan is a teacher with varied interests - from simply walking a dog to History and Literature, Sciences, Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality, but claims expertise to none - the average Joe in the average neighborhood.

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Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The circus came to town and excitement was in the air in many small towns across America. It was the 1930's in Jacob's memory. Even when Jacob was living in a home for the aged in his nineties, the circus was still traveling to a town nearby. That year was no exception. He remembered vividly how he had been a part of the circus. The other retirement home residents were excited too, remembering from their childhood days. For Jacob, it was different. He was really there.

When the Great Depression had struck and then suddenly his parents died in a car accident, his class days as a veterinary medical student were over. There was no money to pay for his expenses and he needed to find work just to survive. He was now flat broke. He joined the hobos on a freight train and headed out of town. He didn't know where he would end up. Well dressed but penniless, he soon discovered that he was on a circus train.

The train was part of the Benzini Brothers circus. They were known as the Most Spectacular Show on Earth if only by their own estimation. He was able to get hired on for a menial job until it became known that he was just shy of his degree in veterinary science. Suddenly, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. While there, he saw this most beautiful girl on a horse and was taken in by her. Marlena was an equestrian circus star but was married to the animal trainer. Jacob Jankowski is invited to join Marlena and her husband August for dinner in their private railway car. There is nothing that would have stopped him. He was excited to go and had a fine time.

The circus lifestyle was exciting to a twenty three year old in the company of a pretty circus star and an interesting trainer. They were the privileged set with the circus and had the best food and drink available just like the owners had. Jacob was now in good company. His budding romantic relationship with Marlena was done quietly and August didn't seem to suspect their interest.

Uncle Al, who owns the circus, doesn't always run the business well. He does some cruel things to keep the circus solvent. Occasionally, he would have some workers thrown off the train at night. He'd feed his dead animals to the lions. Sometimes he wouldn't pay his workers. When other circuses went out of business, he would buy parts of their operations for little money and then not have enough for his regular payroll. He did pick up some interesting additions. One purchase brought a huge elephant named Rosie to the menagerie. Al was delighted that now he not only had a vet with a Cornell education but his own elephant too.

Rosie was a smart animal but stubborn. The animal trainer was mean to the elephant but Jacob could get her to do a lot with his kindness. Marlena was also good with animals and recognized the abuse her husband was giving Rosie. August became suspicious one day of their relationship and beats up Jacob and abuses Marlena. Then she leaves him and goes to live in a hotel when she is not performing. Al tells Jacob that Malena and her husband need to get back together for the sake of the circus's survival and he was holding Jacob responsible. He told Jacob that if they didn't reunite, he would throw his roommate Walter off the train as well as Camel, another friend. They would be red lighted.

Jacob continues to visit her in her hotel room and it wasn't long before they were sleeping together. They then declare their love for one another. When Marlena returns to perform her act, she refuses to let August near her. Al is disappointed and becomes angry. He needs them to get back together. His circus depends on it.

One night, Jacob carried a knife between his teeth and jumped on top of the train. He was going to go along the top of the moving train to Augusts' train and then try to kill him. Jacob couldn't go through with it. He returned to his train and discovered that his friend and roommate had been red lighted. Probably he would have been thrown off, too if he had been home when the men came to do the dirty deed.

When the story is nearly over, some of the "red lighted" circus hands come back. They are now seeking revenge upon the owner. They release the animals and cause a stampede during a live performance. There is panic in the aisles; August is killed by Rosie the elephant. August split his head when the stake was pulled out of the ground. Jacob witnesses the incident and can't save August. Uncle Al is also found dead. The circus is then shutdown.

Marlena and Jacob leave, taking Rosie and some of the other animals with them. They begin their life together. Jacob and Marlena married and had 5 children. Seven years were at the Ringling Bros. circus and then Jacob got a job as a vet for the Chicago zoo.

At the end of the story, Jacob is at the retirement home, waiting for his family to pick him up and take him to the circus. He finds out no one is coming for him after all. He can't go to the circus. Then, Jacob goes to the circus, on his own. He meets Charlie the circus manager and asks if he can help by selling tickets. Charlie agrees to even let him come with the circus if he wants. Jacob accepts the offer and believes he has finally come home.

John Sprague is an American currently working in the mideast. He enjoys writing and working on his websites in his free time. He has a new site at http://www.marketingkindreds.com. His website has photos of the mideast and marketing articles that you may be interested in viewing. There are also website analysis tools and articles on genealogy and DNA.

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The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper

Don't be put off by the title of this book, as it is written by a very good young Canadian author who has become much respected for his work both in Europe as well as America.

This is a compulsive read about a journalist named Patrick Rush who is also a single father and a failed novelist. Patrick decides to join a creative writing circle in Toronto. At the same time there is a murderer loose in the city who attacks his victims at random, leaving cryptic notes beside the bodies for the police investigators.

The circle meets each week for four weeks under their organizer, Conrad White, a strange but influential man who does not teach writing, but rather, facilitates it; the idea being to get the seven members to think and maybe write about their own lives, or a variation thereof. Each week the members will read out loud their new additions to their ever growing work.

It may be more than a coincidence that one of the circle named Angela starts to write a story about a child abductor named Sandman. Could the murderer who is at large in the city be the Sandman? Each time the circle meets, the more Patrick finds fiction blending with reality and he begins to believe that maybe he is being stalked by the Sandman. It isn't until his son, Sam, is snatched, that he realizes that he has to become much more involved in the murky lives of some of the seven members, if he is to find out about this mysterious character.

As the characters' secrets are exposed, so the twists and turns of this well written novel begin to make sense. It naturally becomes a page-turner as Pyper cleverly controls the tension. Without giving away the ending, suffice it to say that we have an individual in Patrick who for lack of a life story cannot write a good novel, but somehow ends up involved in a fascinating story that literally takes over his life.

This is a writer to watch for if you enjoy a good mystery/thriller. This book I would not classify as a thriller, but an excellent mystery; a fact which pleases me as we do not have to plough through the endless Hollywood style gruesome details of the victims.

It is exciting to find a really good Canadian mystery writer with a style that is readable and compelling, who does not rely on any silly grammatical antics to sell his work.

This book review has been written by Jeremy Moray who is the owner of the website http://www.jeremysbookreviews.com a site that has over 150 reviews of books from different genres. This site will be added to as I read more books that I enjoy.

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